


Rituals

by astraplain



Series: Kurtoberfest [31]
Category: Glee
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-31
Updated: 2016-10-31
Packaged: 2018-08-28 04:24:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8431741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astraplain/pseuds/astraplain
Summary: Kurt adopted rituals of Samhain to remember departed love ones. Written for the prompt: the origins of Halloween





	

“After the party, come home with me?” Kurt asked, eyes captivating behind his lace mask. He strikes a gorgeous figure in his steampunk gender-swapped version of Marie Antoinette and men have been vying for his attention all night.

“It will be my pleasure,” Adam assured him before Kurt lowered him into a floor-sweeping dip. Adam’s pirate costume is less elaborate than Kurt’s but the open shirt and tight breeches have attracted a good number of dance partners. 

Adam and Kurt mingled and danced, inevitably coming back together for a dance or drink or even just a touch before they were carried off again. It was just before 11:00 p.m. when they found each other for the last time, said their goodbyes to their host and hurried back to the loft.

Inside, there was time for one kiss before Kurt handed Adam the list and set to work.

Apples and pomegranates planted in clay pots were set outside the door. A large pillar candle was lit and set on a tray in the center of the room. Adam laid out the food for the feast for the dead and Kurt set porcelain-like carved turnips and a white candle on the windowsill before opening it to the night.

Shivering, he and Adam donned warm sweaters and cuddled together as they partook of the feast - more of a snack than a meal because of the time - in silence, as was required.

Kurt wasn’t religious, Adam understood that, although he considered himself to still be searching. Regardless, Kurt respected others’ beliefs and rituals. He’d adopted a few of the Samhain rituals, particularly their remembrance and honoring of the dead.

The planted fruits served as an offering for spirits and the candles on the open windowsill would help guide the spirits home. They didn’t recite, or chant or sing, remaining silent instead. When the clock struck midnight, Kurt closed the window and returned to Adam’s side.

With the burning pillar candle in front of them, they sat on cushions on the floor. Speaking in soft voices they told each other stories about their departed loved ones. For Adam, it was an elderly aunt and a childhood friend. For Kurt, it was his mother and step-brother.

They talked until their voices turned gravely and their eyes burned. And they talked more.

Only when Kurt was barely able to force sound past his lips did Adam stand. Without a word he held out his hand and waited for Kurt to take it. With the candle finally extinguished and pale orange tinting the horizon, they walked together to the bed,

They undressed each other in the semi-darkness, hands gentle and sure. In bed, Kurt reached out to Adam, drawing him down, directing him only with touch.

They didn’t speak. Even their sounds of passion were held back or muffled so as not to startle the spirits.

The cold around them carried an otherworldly chill, but they were cocooned in warmth and love, and the chill passed by and left them undisturbed.

It was full morning when they woke and although the rituals had ended, they were in no hurry to speak. There was a sense of something almost sacred in the space around them and they honored it as best they could.

Only when they stepped outside the loft, fed, dressed, and ready to enjoy the first day of November, did they feel that otherworldly chill return. It ran through them, driving them into a shared embrace, and then faded away to nothing, leaving behind four empty clay pots, surrounded by dirt and without a sign of the apples and pomegranates.

“I love you,” Kurt said, finally breaking the silence. He took Adam’s hand and they raced down the stairs, leaving behind the rituals of the dead to celebrate the spontaneity of the living. 

::end::


End file.
